27 June 2011:

The sky finally cleared and the stars came out. I spent a while sitting on the veranda watching the stars, hills, and the gently waving ocean. Since there was no significant source of light around, the stars were very clear. The Milky Way, with its galactic bulge and interstellar clouds were clearly visible. It really puts everything into perspective. I spent a while watching for shooting stars and chatting.

Rough notes: http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2011/06/2011-nz-to-sf-day-45.html

27 June 2011:

That was an enjoyable night. I was a bit sad since it's my last night in the Yasawas before returning to the mainland. Here is a view outside of the shared bathrooms, I needed a head lamp since there was only light is a few places.

Rough notes: http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2011/06/2011-nz-to-sf-day-45.html

27 June 2011:

There were many more people tonight, and their performance seemed much more professional today. We had a lot of fun watching them, and afterwards, dancing to the music ourselves.

Rough notes: http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2011/06/2011-nz-to-sf-day-45.html

27 June 2011:

The women appeared to be less into the dancing than the men, but still seemed to be enjoying it.

Rough notes: http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2011/06/2011-nz-to-sf-day-45.html

27 June 2011:

Some of the moves that I (and many others) thought were really bizarre and weren't quite sure what to make of it. For some reason it kind of reminds me of lizards.

Rough notes: http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2011/06/2011-nz-to-sf-day-45.html

27 June 2011:

Other than the dancing, there were also a bunch of organized games, as usual in there resorts. I'm starting to enjoy these organized games!

Rough notes: http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2011/06/2011-nz-to-sf-day-45.html

27 June 2011:

The men and women dancing. I wonder if they ever get tired of doing this, but they all seem to be having fun, and we're enjoying ourselves, which is good.

Rough notes: http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2011/06/2011-nz-to-sf-day-45.html

27 June 2011:

Time for the post-dinner show again. I wonder if it will be as bizarre as the night before. With better weather, it's held outside this time, with a small side-bar serving drinks. Their sound board still kept acting up all night wit multiple people trying to fix it.

Rough notes: http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2011/06/2011-nz-to-sf-day-45.html

27 June 2011:

Dinner was in the new enclosed space. It was still surprisingly cold, as you can tell from what people are wearing.

Rough notes: http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2011/06/2011-nz-to-sf-day-45.html

27 June 2011:

View of the beach before dinner time. I was relieved to see the sky finally clearing up after the storm.

Rough notes: http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2011/06/2011-nz-to-sf-day-45.html

27 June 2011:

After coming back from my walk, I considered a walk through the forest to Honeymoon Beach, which is supposed to be beautiful, but decided against it after hearing about how slippery the path would be after rain and about the risk of falling branches and coconuts. The weather continued to improve in the evening, where there were some pretty sunset colours.

Rough notes: http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2011/06/2011-nz-to-sf-day-45.html

27 June 2011:

The jungle-y portion of the beach is near the abandoned resort. I tend to get creeped out by dim areas, forested areas, and abandoned buildings when I'm by myself. I guess I'll just keep close to the water when walking back.

Rough notes: http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2011/06/2011-nz-to-sf-day-45.html

27 June 2011:

Looking back along the cove. My hotel is near the far end of the cove.

Rough notes: http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2011/06/2011-nz-to-sf-day-45.html

27 June 2011:

Past a creepy abandoned resort, the cove came to an end with some rocks blocking the way. I decided I've gone far enough and decided to turn back here.

Rough notes: http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2011/06/2011-nz-to-sf-day-45.html

27 June 2011:

A part of the beach with lots of pebbles. Finally, some clear sky in the distance. I'm hoping very hard that it will come this way! In the meantime, I still have to deal with patches of rain once in a while.

Rough notes: http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2011/06/2011-nz-to-sf-day-45.html

27 June 2011:

After exploring the small part of the bay to the north of the resort, I started south. Apparently our resort had some diving equipment? I wonder if this upside-down sign was to protect the windows from the storm.

Rough notes: http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2011/06/2011-nz-to-sf-day-45.html

27 June 2011:

The weather let up a bit in the afternoon, so I decided to take a walk along the bay the resort is on. Some new arrivals from the mainland told us that the yellow boat is back in service as the white boat is still broken, and that the weather is so bad that the schools are closed for two days in Viti Levu. I also heard some concerning news about that further volcanic eruptions in Chile were causing flight cancellations, I wonder if it will impact my plans, and I hope it doesn't get worse. It was interesting to be getting news in this old-fashioned manner, rather than through the Internet.

Rough notes: http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2011/06/2011-nz-to-sf-day-45.html

27 June 2011:

Since it was still cold and rainy outside, I spent most of the day indoors, passing the time by playing cards, writing, and thinking. Meals were moved to their newly-build and semi-opened new common room on the second floor. Good thing it didn't blow over in the storm.

Rough notes: http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2011/06/2011-nz-to-sf-day-45.html

27 June 2011:

A view from the veranda along the dorms. The storm has blown up a lot of clumps of seaweed on the beach. The weather is the morning still isn't good, but at least the wind has died down so I'm no longer worried about having buildings collapse on me.

Rough notes: http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2011/06/2011-nz-to-sf-day-45.html